SS2 A Sparrow's Providence
by Denise Felt
Summary: John Straker spends an eventful weekend with his father.


**SS-2. A Sparrow's Providence**

**(A UFO Story)**

by Denise Felt 2010

**Chapter 1**

He felt her hand stroke his hair and turned over in the bed to look at her. She looked mysterious and beautiful in the pre-dawn mistiness of the bedroom; her hair dark against the pillow, her violet eyes nearly charcoal with concerns of which he had no knowledge. In spite of his worry for her, his heart leapt at the sight of her -- in his bed and close enough to touch. But they had other matters to discuss first.

"Where did you go?" he asked softly.

Chandra toyed with his hair absently as she held his serious gaze. "How did you know I left? I wasn't gone more than a minute."

"I felt the lack of you," he said.

Her heart turned over at his words. "I'm sorry, Ed. I didn't think you would wake."

He took the hand that was playing in his hair and kissed it. "I need to ask something of you."

"What?"

He sighed, unsure how she would respond. "I need you to tell me when you go somewhere. Before you go."

She frowned. "I don't . . ."

"Let me explain," he said quickly, intertwining his fingers with hers. "I know that you aren't used to answering to anyone about your travels. And I don't want you to feel constrained in any way. But I need to know. If, through some bizarre circumstance, you didn't return. If something happened to you while you were gone – I wouldn't know. I'd have no idea. You'd just be gone. I wouldn't know where. I wouldn't know why."

Her eyes closed for a moment. When they opened, he saw the sheen of tears. He almost said something, took back what he'd asked. But she spoke first.

"You're right. I'm so sorry. I didn't realize how it would seem to you if . . . I didn't think about it. It's never been an issue before, so it didn't even cross my mind to make sure you were okay with it before I went. It won't happen again. I'll tell you first. Okay?"

He sighed again, this time with relief. "Thank you." He brought her closer with the hand he held and kissed her deeply. "I'm glad you're back," he whispered against her lips.

"Hmmm . . ." she murmured, melting into his embrace. "Me too."

* * *

The sun had spread dawn throughout the bedroom by the time he woke again. She looked unbelievably lovely lying asleep next to him. He was not a religious man, but he had found himself thanking God for her every day since he'd found out the truth. She was so special, had such amazing talents, and was more entwined in his life than even his closest friend. And she loved him. That was the most amazing thing of all.

She stirred and opened her eyes, smiling tenderly when she met his gaze. "Good morning."

"I believe it is," he answered, his blue eyes twinkling. "So far, it's been a great morning."

She grinned. And blushed. To cover how flustered he made her, she asked, "Is it time to get up?"

His lean hand brushed her hair away from her cheek and lingered for a moment. He loved it when she blushed. There was something so timeless about it, as though the world and society in its present form had not had the chance to alter her innate sweetness in any way.

"Not just yet," he replied. "We've got a while before we have to face the day. I'm going in late today."

"Why?"

He grinned and kissed her. "Because I've been spoiled by you, of course. I never used to want to stay in bed, you know. Couldn't see any reason for it. Now, however . . ."

She shook her head at him and lowered her eyes, but she was smiling.

"Chandra?" he said softly.

When she looked back up at him, he said, "Will you tell me where you went?"

She looked surprised. "Of course. I woke up thinking about my dad. So I went to see him."

He laid back down on his pillow, facing her. "How was he?" He wondered how hard it had been for her to see her father, knowing that he was dead in this time.

She smiled sadly. "He was fine. Working at the theatre on one of his plays. He seemed to be having a great time."

"Did you get a chance to talk to him?"

She shook her head. "No." She looked at him beseechingly. "I couldn't. I didn't want to say anything about . . . what happened to our homeworld. I couldn't have done that to him; made him aware of what was going to happen. It would have been terrible for him. And I wouldn't have been able to keep quiet about it if we'd talked."

"I'm sorry," he said, knowing the words were inadequate, but not knowing any others. No wonder she'd looked so sad earlier. "You were very close to your father, weren't you?"

Chandra nodded. "We were such good friends! Like you, I lost my mother when I was young. So dad and I were a team from the beginning. We took care of each other. And he was my hero. I often thought as a child how wonderful it must be to be a librarian; visiting all those exciting places, meeting new people all the time. I found out when I was older that he often envied me the ability to walk through time. I guess we were both adventurers in our own way."

"He was lucky to have you," he said.

She smiled and turned fully onto her side, laying facing him with her hands under her cheek on the pillow. "We were lucky to have each other. Were you and your father close?"

He grimaced slightly. "No. We had a very different family dynamic."

"What was he like?" she prompted when he fell silent.

"He never really recovered from my mother's death. He certainly didn't know what to do with me. So he retreated into his books and his botany. I never really knew him all that well."

He looked at her expression for a moment, then added sternly, "And I want you to promise not to go back and try to make things turn out different for me. I mean it, Chandra. I want your promise."

She shook her head. "I won't promise, Ed. I love you, and I want the best for you."

"Chandra," he said on a sigh. How to explain to her? "My life – with all its ups and downs – has brought me here. Right here with you. And I'm happy to be here. If I had been close to my father, who knows how differently I might have turned out? I appreciate you so much, because I never had anyone in my life want to know me like you do. If things had been different, I might not appreciate that; I might take it for granted. And I never want to do that."

She stared at him for a long time, searching his face. He could tell that she was trying to fault his logic. He could almost hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to get around it. Finally she sighed and said, "Alright. I won't try to fix things with your father."

"Thank you."

Then she said, "Is he still living?"

He was surprised. "Yes. He still has the house in Boston. Why?"

"Then it's not too late for you to fix things with him yourself."

He shook his head. "I wouldn't know how. I'd have no idea what to say to him."

"Ed," she said earnestly, bringing her soft hand to his cheek to make him meet her gaze. "If he were gone – beyond your reach forever – you would suddenly have a million things you would wish you could say to him. But he's not. He's still around. You have time to mend things between you. Or at least to try again at a relationship. It's not too late."

He knew she was thinking of her father, and he couldn't help but understand. He also knew that the years had created a solid wall between him and his father. A wall that seemed insurmountable. He sighed. "Will you come with me?"

"Of course."

* * *

"Can't you elope?" Alec asked, feeling very put-upon as he poured himself a drink from the corner dispenser.

Straker sat back in his HQ office chair and grinned at his old friend. "No."

Col. Freeman sat down with his drink in the chair in front of the desk. "I don't know, Ed. It sounds like a good idea to me. After all, this is your second marriage. There's no need for all the pomp this time around."

"I intend to marry Chandra with all the pomp I can command, Alec," Straker replied. "Besides, anything worth doing is worth doing right." Then his grin grew wicked. "I know what you really object to. Wearing a tuxedo."

"Damned monkey suit!" Alec said. "Why do they have to make them so uncomfortable to wear?"

"So that you are reminded that it's a serious occasion."

His friend merely grunted into his drink. After a few minutes, he looked up and met Straker's twinkling eyes. "You know I'm only being your best man so that I can kiss the bride, don't you?"

"I can't say that I blame you," the commander replied without concern.

Alec shook his head at him. He was still a little befuddled around Straker's fiancee. She still looked as young as she had when he'd first met her – twenty years ago! Straker had explained her special talents to him and how she intended to use them to help SHADO win its war against the aliens. But whenever Alec looked at her, he couldn't help but be reminded of his Air Force days. It was disorienting, to say the least.

"So, have you told him yet?" he asked.

Straker frowned. "No. Not yet."

Alec's brows raised. "Aren't you leaving it a bit late? The wedding's less than a month away."

The commander barely stopped himself from squirming in his seat. "I know when the wedding is, Alec."

"If you eloped, you could be married by tomorrow."

Straker grinned. "That sounds wonderful to me. But Chandra wants to be a June bride, so we're waiting till then. You'll just have to resign yourself to the tux, Alec."

Freeman grunted, but pursued his topic. "When do you plan to tell him?"

"I'll see him tomorrow. I intend to tell him then."

"Better not tell him he'll be wearing a tux, or he'll head for the hills," his friend warned.

"That shows what you know," the commander replied. "He'll be excited about it. He wouldn't want his Uncle Alec to outshine him, now would he?"

Alec grinned in spite of himself. He had surprised himself these past years by being a very doting uncle. Him, who never had the patience for kids. Who would have thought it? "Has he met Chandra yet?"

"No."

Straker was frowning again. Alec could imagine how worried he was about John meeting his soon-to-be stepmother. "I wonder if he'll think what everyone else is thinking, Ed?"

"What's that?"

"That you're marrying a girl young enough to be your daughter," Alec said with relish, hoping to get a rise out of his friend.

Straker's lips thinned. "Her official age is listed as thirty-six, Alec," he said in clipped tones. "Hardly young enough to be my daughter."

"Yeah, but she doesn't look thirty-six, does she?"

Unexpectedly, the commander sighed. "She probably will before too many years have passed."

"What do you mean?" Alec asked, bewildered by the comment.

Straker looked at him. "Just think about it, Alec. She won't be jumping around, skipping years anymore. Instead she'll be in one place day after day, aging along with the rest of us. And on top of that, she'll also be jumping into the future on occasion, keeping track of what the Thoelians are trying to do to get Earth. So she'll actually be aging faster than the rest of us."

The colonel shook his head. "I don't know how you can keep it all straight, Ed. It gives me a headache just trying to figure it out."

"I'm just hoping that she's not too worried about it," said Straker pensively. "Women tend to get unpredictable when it comes to aging."

Alec grinned, then got up to refresh his drink. "So, where are you taking her for your honeymoon?"

"Boston. She wants me to give her a tour of the area where I grew up. And I want to take her sailing in the Bay. And we definitely want to revisit the island."

The colonel shook his head. "Don't you think it's odd that she knew you as a kid, Ed? I mean, you deal with obsessive fans all the time. You don't think it's obsessive for her to have followed you around all these years?"

But Straker shook his head. "It's not like that, Alec. She isn't obsessive. She's protective. Like a guardian angel. I was her first friend after losing her entire world. Do you remember your first friend, Alec?"

He thought about it. "Yeah. Billy Paxton. Little brat who lived on the floor beneath me when I was five. We got into all kinds of trouble together."

The commander nodded. "You never forget your first friend. And I'm pretty sure that she sympathized with me, because she lost her mother too at a young age. I think she was as surprised as I was when we met again and the sparks flew. I don't think anyone could have predicted that."

Alec considered a while. Finally he said, "There's just one thing, Ed."

"What's that?"

"Is she really Shakespeare's daughter?"

"Yes. Of course."

"Then that will make you his son-in-law," the colonel said facetiously.

Straker stared at him, shocked speechless by the thought

**Chapter 2**

"Red alert! This is a red alert!"

SID's mechanical voice droned over the loudspeakers in SHADO Control as operatives scurried to battle stations. Col. Virginia Lake calmly closed the report she'd been reading near the bank of computers and walked over to Lt. Ford's communications station. "What have we got, Keith?"

He looked at her. "Two UFOs, heading for Antarctica."

She wondered vaguely what they would want there? It was a frozen wasteland. Certainly no bodies with organs to harvest. She turned to the Moonbase monitor.

"Nina, launch the interceptors."

"Yes, Colonel," Lt. Barry answered.

Virginia turned back to Ford. "Where's Commander Straker today?"

"At home. He asked not to be disturbed."

She sniffed indignantly. SHADO's newest recruit was a civilian, and in spite of the fact that she'd been one too before joining, Ginny wasn't sure she liked having Reva in HQ. And she was dead certain that she didn't like her influence on the commander. He was beginning to act as though there was a life for him outside of SHADO. And where would that lead, she wondered?

"Alright, Keith," she said finally. "We'll see how the interceptors do first before we decide whether to ruin his holiday."

He blinked at her acidic tone, but kept his face blank as he answered. "Yes, Colonel."

* * *

Straker wished he didn't feel so nervous. He got out of his car and waited for John to come out of the house. He was used to feeling uncomfortable when he came here to pick up his son for their monthly visits. After all, this had been his house once. His wife; his family. It slapped him in the face every time he came with his failure – as a husband, as a father. As a man. So discomfort was expected. But he'd never been nervous before.

And today he was nervous. He knew it had nothing to do with his exwife, and everything to do with his fiancee. What if John didn't like her? What if she didn't like him? What if they couldn't build some sort of bond between them all? What would he do?

However, none of his anxiety showed on his face when his son raced out the door, yelling good-bye to his mother as he ran to the car. Mary stood at the door to see him off.

"Hello, Ed."

He nodded to her. "Hello, Mary." He met her eyes and realized with a shock that he felt nothing. None of the guilt he was used to feeling around her. None of the sense of lost love he had carried for so long. Nothing but a vague sense of relief that he hadn't still been entangled with her when he met Chandra again.

_Chandra_, he thought on a sigh. _Thank God for you_. He drove away feeling as though a great weight had fallen off his shoulders.

But after a few miles, his nervousness returned. He looked over at his son, the only person who had cared about him for years now. Well, there was Alec; but that was hardly the same. And Chandra had been there too, but not in a way that he had noticed. John had been the reason he'd had the strength to face each day. Without him, Straker doubted if he'd have bothered to continue fighting a war he couldn't win. Without John, breathing itself would have been harder.

He needed his son to be happy for him, to be glad that his father had found someone special. Special enough to include in their outings, in their lives. _Both_ their lives. He flexed his tense fingers on the wheel and struggled to relax. Just relax.

"I have some good news for you, John."

His son turned to him. "Oh, yeah? What is it? Dad! Did you buy me that scooter? I told you not to. I want to earn the money for it myself."

"No, John. It isn't the scooter. It's something else. Something wonderful." Straker paused, wanting to lick his suddenly dry lips, but refusing to show that sign of nervousness to his son. "I'm getting married."

John stared at him for a moment in surprise. "You are?"

"Yes," his father replied with a weak smile, trying to see if his son looked upset by the news. "And I'd like it very much if you'd be my ring bearer. It's an important job."

"Yeah?" John thought about it. "Okay. I could do that, I guess. When is it? Will there be a lot of people there?"

Straker sighed quietly. One hurdle cleared. "It's next month, on the seventeenth. We're having a small ceremony on the steps of the Renaissance Theatre at the studio. Alec will be there. He's my best man."

"Uncle Alec?" John asked with a grin.

Straker grinned back. "Yes. And he's mad at me, because he has to wear a tuxedo."

John laughed. "He's so funny! Do I get to wear one too?"

"Of course. You couldn't be a true ring bearer without one."

John sat back in his seat and thought about how nice he'd look in a tuxedo. "Cool!"

He was quiet for several miles while he contemplated it. Then he said, "So, Dad. Who are you marrying? Have I ever met her?"

His father looked at him. "No. Not yet. But you'll get to meet her today. Her name is Ch– Reva."

"Reva? That name sounds familiar."

Straker turned to him in surprise. "It does?"

John nodded. "Yeah. Oh, I know! Wasn't she the actress who stepped in at the last minute for your Shakespearean Festival two weeks ago?"

"Yes, she is," his father replied, considerably surprised. "How did you know about that?"

John shrugged. "I read the papers. I collect articles about the studio for my scrapbook."

"You do?" Straker was astonished. He'd had no idea that John was interested in the studio that way.

"It's no big deal," his son replied, trying to be nonchalant.

His father said quietly, "I think it's wonderful that my work at the studio interests you, John. I was afraid that it had begun to bore you, I've taken you around so much."

John shook his head emphatically. "No way, Dad! I could never be bored there! It's so awesome!"

Straker smiled. "Then we'll just have to go again soon. Alright?"

"Alright!"

After a while, John said pensively, "Mom always said you'd end up marrying one of your actresses. She made it sound like it would be a bad thing."

His father sighed. "Your mother is right, John. A lot of actresses are not very nice people. They tend to think only about themselves most of the time, which can make things hard for everyone else around them."

"But Reva's not like that?"

Straker smiled sweetly. "No. Reva's nothing like that. You'll see when you meet her."

"Okay." John seemed to accept his father's word. "But don't actresses go off and do films all over the world? You wouldn't like that, would you? If she took off all the time?"

"No, I wouldn't like it," his father agreed. "But Reva isn't a film actress. She only does theatre. So she'll only leave whenever she helps out another actress who can't perform onstage for a night or two. It won't be that often."

John frowned. "But won't she get bored doing nothing the rest of the time?"

Straker shook his head. "Of course not. She has really hit it off with Rosie, our Wardrobe supervisor. She is going to help out with the Wardrobe department at the studio. Her and Rosie have great plans to finally get it all organized."

"Oh."

As the car pulled into the driveway at Straker's house, John suddenly turned to his father and asked, "Will I like her, Dad?"

_That_, thought Straker, _was the question of the hour_.

* * *

John could smell something delicious as soon as he entered the house. He turned to his father and rolled his eyes. "Oh, man! What is that smell?"

Straker grinned. Chandra had obviously gone all out for this visit. "I think it's brownies, John."

"Brownies? Really?"

His father said, "Actually, they aren't like any brownies I remember having. Ch– Reva makes them a little differently."

"Are they awful?" John asked.

"No," his father replied. "Just a little richer than I'm used to. Decadent, she calls them."

John grinned. "Sounds great!"

At that moment, Chandra entered the living area from the kitchen. She was carrying a tray of brownies and smiled as she offered them. "Would you like a brownie, John?"

"Sure," he said and took one of the large squares from the tray.

Since he was busy shoving it into his mouth, his father did the introductions.

"John, this is Ch– Reva. Reva, my son John."

Chandra grinned at her fiancee, aware from his stiffness how nervous he was. But she already knew that she liked his son. She was certain that they'd get along just fine.

"Hello," she said to John.

He swallowed first before answering. "Hi, Reva. Nice to meet you."

She twinkled at him and offered the tray again. "Want another one?"

His eyes widened. "Really? Sure!" And he grabbed one up before his father could forbid it.

She grinned at Straker, who merely sighed. Trust Chandra to know that the way to a boy's heart was through his stomach. He wondered now why he'd ever been worried.

"That's quite enough, John," he said before his son could reach for another brownie.

John sighed gustily, but then grinned at Reva. "They're really good," he told her.

"I know," she answered. "They're my favorite."

John asked, "What is it that Dad keeps almost calling you?"

She laughed, and his father looked rueful.

"Chandra," Straker said quietly.

"What's that?" John asked.

Reva replied. "It's my real name, John. Reva is my stage name, the name most people know me by. Very few people call me Chandra."

"Oh. Right." He thought for a moment, then asked, "So what name should I use?"

She grinned at him, her violet eyes twinkling. "Why don't we start with Reva and see how it goes?" She tossed a saucy look at his dad, then headed back toward the kitchen.

John's grin widened when he saw his father's head shake. His dad was fighting to hide a grin, and it made John glad to see that his father was marrying someone who wasn't as serious as he was. Someone who could make him smile more often. In fact, John thought that there was something very familiar about her smile. In her eyes, maybe. She had very pretty eyes. He said to his dad, "She's cool."

Straker relaxed for the first time all day. "Yes, she is."

"So, Dad," John said as his father followed him into the spare bedroom that was his during his monthly visits. "How did you manage to catch such a young actress?"

Straker sighed.

* * *

"It's not necessary for you to go in to work tonight," he said when he followed her onto the patio.

Chandra just grinned at him. "You need time alone with your son, Ed. My being here is a new situation for John to handle. I want to give him enough breathing room to get used to me. It would be stupid to crowd him all weekend."

He drew her closer for a kiss. "It's just that I'll miss you."

She knew he was referring to the fact that she was staying in his dorm room at SHADO tonight. They had both agreed that John didn't need to be aware of just how intimate their relationship was until after they were married.

"I'll miss you too," she murmured against his lips. God, he was an incredible kisser! She could feel the top of her head pop off and spin away, and had to step away from him to regain her balance. He'd make her forget her name in a minute, and they had a boy inside the house who could come out at any time.

"I thought I'd make a run for you tonight, if that's okay."

He frowned. "Without me there?"

She shrugged. "Ed, it's not as though you could go with me into the future. I'm sure that Alec can supervise just as easily as you could." And she didn't want to see his worry for her when she jumped. It would be easier all around if someone else was there the first time. After that, he wouldn't be so worried about her.

He thought about it for a while as she prepared the picnic table for lunch. Finally he nodded. "Okay. I'll set it up. But I want Dr. Jackson there as well. Just in case."

She gave him a reassuring hug. "That's fine. Now go get your son. Lunch is ready."

* * *

"Moonbase to SHADO Control."

Col. Lake turned to the monitor. "Yes, Nina. We're here."

Lt. Barry smiled at her from the monitor. "Detonation positive, Colonel. Both UFOs have been destroyed."

"Thanks."

After Moonbase signed off, Virginia left the Control room and went into Straker's HQ office to write her report. She was a little sorry that they hadn't needed to call the commander in to deal with the incident. It would have been her pleasure to interrupt his day. She could just imagine all the things he and his fiancee were doing to celebrate his day off, and it made her teeth grind together just thinking about it. You'd think a man his age would be past the stage of thinking with his hormones.

**Chapter 3**

John tried to look as though he was used to visiting a tailor all the time, but he had a hard time of it. He kept wanting to bounce out of his sneakers. How often did a guy get to visit his dad's tailor, after all?

The chauffeur had driven Reva off to do some shopping while they went to the tailor's. Dad didn't want her to see the tuxedos before the wedding. John thought it was a little silly for his dad to be so superstitious. Wasn't it just the wedding dress that no one was supposed to see? But he thought it might have been cool to see what she thought of _him_ in a tux.

"You seem to have grown a few more inches, John," Straker said when Matthews had finished measuring the boy. "Every time I blink these days, you've gotten taller."

John grinned. He couldn't wait for the day when he would be as tall as his dad. Maybe someday he'd even gain an inch or two on him. Wouldn't that be cool?

"Mom says since I eat so much, I'd better be growing up or I'll be growing out," he said, patting his skinny stomach. "She says that every time she goes into the kitchen, she expects to find that I've eaten the refrigerator, handles and all."

Straker smiled. He remembered what it was like to be a teenage boy, all gangly limbs and appetite. Then he sighed. How had John gotten to be such a tall young man? Wasn't it just yesterday that Straker had stood at the hospital's nursery window and waved to his infant son as he cried in his cradle?

But here he was, nearly twelve years old, looking like a man instead of a boy in the dove grey tuxedo that Matthews was fitting to his skinny frame. Where had the years gone? He looked around, wishing for Chandra's hand in his at that moment. He could have used her reassuring smile.

Then the front door opened, jingling to signal that someone had come into the shop. Straker's heart leapt as he wondered if it might be Chandra returning to check on them. But then he heard the voice of the newcomer speaking to the clerk out front. He strode over to the doorway of the back room.

"Alec! We're in here."

Col. Freeman joined them in the tailor's workroom. "Hey, John!" he said to the boy getting fitted. "That looks good on you."

John grinned at his favorite uncle – his _only_ uncle. But he would still have been John's favorite even if he'd had a hundred uncles. "Hi, Uncle Alec," he said happily. "I get to look just like Dad. Is your tux the same?"

"Close enough," the colonel said. He leaned closer to his old friend and asked quietly, "When did he get so tall?"

Straker grinned. Having Alec around was almost as good as having Chandra. "That's what I was wondering."

* * *

Ginny finished her report and set it aside for the commander to read when he came back to work after the weekend. He'd probably ask her a lot of questions about the trajectory of the UFOs. It was the one thing that was still bothering her about the incident. What had the aliens wanted with Antarctica?

She just didn't know.

Straker would probably tell her to find out, in that stern way he had of speaking when he was exasperated with someone. Well, she would just be one step ahead of him then. And maybe she'd even have some answers for him _before_ he asked.

She picked up the phone and called Ford at his station. "Keith, can you get me the Cape Horn Tracking station?"

"Sure, Colonel, " he answered. "One moment, please." He contacted the lieutenant on duty at SHADO's southernmost tracking station, then got back to Col. Lake. "Here he is, Colonel."

"Thanks, Keith." She sat back in the commander's chair, enjoying the feel of the rich leather. And the lovely feeling it gave her knowing that she was sharing his space, even in this fleeting way.

When the call was connected, she said, "This is Col. Lake from HQ. Who is this?"

"Lt. Stanton, Colonel," he said in the broad accent of the far lower hemisphere. "How can I help you?"

"We just destroyed two UFOs that were heading toward Antarctica. Any reason they might be interested in your area?"

"No, Colonel," he answered. "It's all quiet here. We had a meteor shower last week, but that's the only excitement we've had down here for a while."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," she said. "I want you to keep an extra sharp eye out for any activity in your area over the next few weeks, just in case."

"Yes, sir."

"And Lieutenant? Copy me your report on that meteor shower, would you?"

* * *

They had an early dinner at a local Italian restaurant. When Reva ordered pizza, John decided that she was the best thing that had ever happened to his dad.

Straker picked at his fettuccine alfredo while John and Chandra tried each other's pizza. John swore that his tasted best, but admitted that hers ran a close second. Straker thought both kinds looked really delicious. He wished he'd ordered some for himself. Alec ignored them all and dug into his large plate of lasagna.

Later, when they got up from the table to leave, Reva went with Alec. They were working tonight at the studio while he and his dad got to enjoy the evening at home. Reva kissed his dad good-bye in a way that made John a little curious about their relationship. He'd never seen his mom kiss his stepdad that way.

Then she came over and kissed him on the cheek, making him blush.

"Thanks for sharing your pizza, John," she said.

"Anytime," he said with a grin.

John got into the limousine when it pulled up outside the restaurant, but his father stood a moment by the open door, watching as Uncle Alec and Reva got into Alec's sports car. Only after his uncle's car had pulled away into traffic did his father get into the car.

John saw the worry on his father's face and asked, "Everything okay, Dad?"

"Hmmm?" His dad met his eyes. "Oh, sure. Ready to go home?"

"Yeah. Can we play chess?"

Straker raised a brow at him and said, "Are you sure you want to chance it, John?"

"Of course, Dad. I've got a strategy."

His father grinned at his enthusiasm. "Alright then. After you're done with your homework."

"Oh, man!"

* * *

"Okay. I just want to tell you that I feel really nervous about you doing this."

Chandra grinned at him. "Come on, Alec. There's nothing to it really. I've done this a million times. And Dr. Jackson will be here if needed for any reason upon my return. All you have to do is be here to supervise. That shouldn't be too hard. Right?"

Col. Freeman sighed heavily. "You make it sound like a stroll in the park. And I know it's not. There's no way it could be. Jumping around in time. It's insane, is what it is."

Her grin only widened. He looked so tough for such a handsome man. Who would have imagined that he was such a sweetie under all that bluff? He was worrying about her as much as Ed was, she was sure. As if any of this was dangerous. She went to him and kissed his cheek.

"For luck," she said with a wink as he jerked in surprise.

His rakish grin appeared. "Just tell Ed it was your idea to kiss me, okay?"

She laughed. "I'll just be gone a moment. See you soon!" And she disappeared from the lab.

Freeman turned to the doctor. "Now what do we do?"

Dr. Jackson was still watching the spot in the room where Chandra had disappeared. "We wait, Colonel."

Alec grunted, crossing his arms across his chest. "How long until we know whether anything went wrong?"

The doctor turned to look at him, frowning as he considered. "I'm not sure."

**Chapter 4**

John finished his last math problem and slammed the textbook shut. Freedom at last! He ran from his room to go challenge his father to a chess match. He'd been honing his skills against the computer at home and was sure that he could beat his dad now.

He stopped suddenly when he saw Reva laying on the floor of the living room. She was supposed to be at work, so he was surprised to see her home. But what was she doing on the floor? She certainly wasn't sleeping. Her eyes were open and she wasn't moving, and that had to be bad. He went over to her, unsure if this was some sick joke or something. But when he touched her arm, she felt – wrong somehow.

"Reva?" he said, shaking her arm to see if she'd wake up. "Chandra?" But there was no response. "_Dad?_"

He got up and ran to the study just as his father emerged from the doorway.

"What is it, John? Have you finished your homework?"

"Dad!" John gasped. "It's Chandra! There's something wrong with her!"

Instantly his father changed. It was amazing to watch as he shifted from parent mode to – something else. Something almost scary in its intensity.

"Where?" he demanded.

"In the living room."

His father sprinted past him and ran to where Chandra lay on the carpet. His heart nearly failed him when he saw how still she was. What the hell had happened to her?

"I thought she was at work," John said behind him as Straker felt for a pulse, finding none. "Did you know that she was back?"

"No," Straker answered absently as he checked to see that her air passages were clear.

John saw how grim he looked and said, "Should I call for an ambulance?"

Straker paused before starting CPR to meet his son's eyes. "No. Call Alec. Number 1 on the speed dial."

"But . . ." John began, then saw that his father was busy trying to resuscitate Chandra. He had no idea how Alec could help them, but he obediently picked up the phone and hit 1 on the speed dial.

* * *

"Freeman," the colonel said as he answered the phone in the lab.

"Uncle Alec? Dad said to call you," John said in a rush. "Something's wrong with Chandra."

"She's there?" the colonel asked in surprise. But he didn't give the boy a chance to answer before adding, "We'll have a medical team sent right out. Hang in there, John."

When the colonel set down the phone, he met the doctor's eyes for a moment before heading for the door of the lab.

"Colonel," Jackson said. "What is it? What has happened?"

Alec turned in the doorway and said grimly, "Something went wrong."

* * *

John watched his father working over Chandra's body and marvelled at how competent he was. The TV shows made it look easy, but he knew from his swimming class just how difficult it was to try and revive someone. He was a little scared when he realized that she was – that she might not come back. But his dad seemed to know just what to do.

Straker felt his son's gaze on him and forcibly held his emotions in check as he administered CPR to Chandra. So far, she was unresponsive -- but he couldn't accept that status as final. He wanted to yell at her, to demand that she return to him. He couldn't lose her now. He _couldn't!_ He yanked the despair that wanted to flood over him into the same small room where his other emotions were being held and slammed the door on it.

He had long ago lost all track of time, but finally he caught a flicker of movement behind her eyelids. "Yes, baby," he murmured to her coaxingly, briskly patting her cheeks. "Come back now. Come back to me."

She drew a gasping breath, then vomited onto the carpet.

Straker turned her head to the side, so that she didn't choke. He looked at John for the first time in several minutes and said, "A damp cloth?"

"Right!" John sprinted into the bathroom and came back within moments with a warm cloth.

The commander wiped her mouth, murmuring words of comfort to her as she sobbed incoherently. When there was a knock at the door, he signaled to John to answer it, knowing that his legs were too weak to support him. Reaction was setting in, and he couldn't stop trembling.

Chandra looked at him, her beautiful eyes full of tears and residual horror. "Ed . . . !"

"Shhh. It's all right now," he assured her. "You're safe. You're home."

She closed her eyes wearily and whispered, "Home."

The medics came over and put her on the stretcher. Chief medic Wilson helped the commander to his feet and asked what had happened.

Straker locked his knees to keep them from giving out and told him that he had administered CPR. "She'll need oxygen," he added tersely.

"Yes, sir." Wilson went to follow the stretcher out to the ambulance, then turned back when he saw that the commander hadn't moved. "There's room in the ambulance, sir, if you wish to ride along."

Straker looked to where John stood near the front door, watching the proceedings with wide eyes. Then he shook his head. "No, thank you. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Yes, sir."

The commander came over to the doorway and stood with his son to watch the ambulance drive off, its sirens blaring and its lights flashing in the dark. Once it was gone, he closed the door and went to the couch, dropping onto it wearily, leaning back, and closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he saw John on the floor with a roll of paper towels, cleaning up the mess. He sighed.

"That's okay, son," he said. "Leave that for now. We'll deal with it later."

John came over to the couch and sat beside him. "Why didn't we go with her, Dad?"

Straker met his eyes. "I need to take you home, John. I know your mother isn't expecting you until tomorrow night, but under these circumstances . . ."

"No, Dad. Wait!" John interrupted. "I want to go with you to the hospital."

His father shook his head. "Listen, son. You've seen more than enough distress for one day, don't you think?"

"Dad, I need to know that she'll be okay. There's no way I can go home as if none of this even happened. As if it wasn't important!"

Straker sighed, seeing the concern in his son's eyes. Well, he had wanted John to get close to Chandra. He would just have to deal with it now. "Alright, John. But it'll be a long wait at the hospital while they check her out."

"I don't mind," John answered. "Let's go."

* * *

They were sitting in the hall outside the examining room when Alec came rushing off the elevator. He sat down on the plastic chair next to John's and met his friend's eyes across from him.

"Well, Ed?"

Straker shook his head. "We don't know anything yet, Alec. They're still checking her out."

"Is she . . . ? She's okay then?"

"Yes. I was able to get her breathing again. But I have no idea how long I was at it before the medics came." He rubbed his hands over his face. "We won't know more until they come out and tell us."

Freeman took a deep breath. There were a million questions he wanted to ask his commander. What had gone wrong with the jump? What had happened to Chandra? What did this incident mean for SHADO's future? Etcetera, etcetera. But he could hardly ask any of them in front of John. And it was obvious that his boss had no answers for him anyway. But he felt responsible. He'd been the one supervising the jump, after all. He kept remembering her kiss for luck. Where was that luck now?

The door to the examining room swung open, and Dr. Schroeder came out.

Straker stood and looked at his friend. "Alec, take John down to the gift shop for some flowers for Chandra. Okay?"

Freeman saw the worry and concern in those blue eyes. Concern that John might be around to hear bad news from the doctor. "Right," he said, forcing a grin onto his face and smacking John on the shoulder.

"Let's go get Chandra some flowers, John."

"Dad?" It was obvious that John wanted to stay by his father to hear what the doctor had to say. To be his support, if necessary.

But Straker shook his head. "Go with Alec, son. Find her the prettiest ones, okay?"

John stared into his father's eyes for a long moment, then said, "Sure, Dad." And he let his uncle lead him away toward the elevator.

Straker watched them go, then turned back to the doctor. "How is she?"

"She's resting now, Commander. Her throat and lungs are raw, so I hope that you'll save your questions for tomorrow. Talking will only acerbate the problem."

"What happened to her, Schroeder?"

The doctor sighed. "As far as I can tell, she inhaled poisonous gas. From the effects, I would say that it was probably chlorine. If inhaled in a sufficiently large amount, it would have flooded her entire respiratory system, causing intense coughing and resulting in suffocation."

Straker stared at him in horror. "Where could she have been exposed to that much chlorine?"

"I don't know, Commander. By tomorrow, she should be able to tell you herself."

"Yes, of course," Straker said. "May I see her?"

"You won't interrogate her tonight?" the doctor asked, then flinched from the fierce look Straker directed at him. "No. Of course, you won't, Commander. I'm sorry. You may go on in. But please don't stay long. She needs to rest."

Straker entered the examining room and came over to the bed. Chandra lay with her eyes closed, nearly as white as the pillow that supported her head. He wanted to touch her, to assure himself that she was alive. But he didn't want to wake her if she was sleeping. And he could see her chest rise and fall with her breathing. Somehow it wasn't enough to reassure him.

She seemed to sense his presence, because after a few minutes, her eyes opened and met his. "Ed!" she whispered hoarsely.

He laid his finger on her lips. "Shhh. You shouldn't talk. Doctor's orders."

But she shook her head. "I need to tell you . . ." She broke off as a fit of coughing seized her.

He gave her some water from the carafe on the nightstand, then said, "No talking. We'll discuss everything tomorrow. I promise."

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it, looking at him as if she would tell him everything with her eyes alone.

He nearly winced from both the pressure of her fingers and the residual horror he saw in her eyes, but then he heard the door to the room open behind him. He said with an assumed smile, "Tomorrow's soon enough for all that, Chandra. Right now you have some visitors."

She looked past him as John came up to the bed, followed by his uncle. Straker's son was carrying a tall vase with bright pink roses spilling out of the top in a cheerful array.

John grinned at her. "Hey, Chandra! We got you the prettiest ones they had. Do you like them?"

In answer, she burst into tears.

John looked at his father in shock.

But Straker only shook his head and sat on the side of the bed, gathering Chandra into his arms to soothe her, then pressing the call button for the nurse.

"It's alright, John," he said softly as his fiancee sobbed against his chest. "She loves them. Trust me. She wouldn't cry if they didn't mean a lot to her."

John looked to his uncle for confirmation, and Alec nodded. "Your dad's right, John. Women always cry when you bring them gifts. It's just one of the many odd things about them."

**Chapter 5**

"I'm not talking to you," she said hoarsely as they entered her hospital room the next morning. Then she smiled at John. "But you I'll speak to. Thank you for the roses, John. They're so beautiful!"

He grinned at her and took the hand she held out. "Dad said to get the prettiest ones," he said, giving credit where it was due.

Straker met his fiancee's fierce look calmly. "What have I done to upset you, Chandra?" Although he had an idea.

"You let them sedate me!" she accused.

He sighed. "You were overwrought. You needed to rest. It was the best option at the time."

"I was not overwrought!" she denied hotly. "I was just . . ."

He raised a brow at her, waiting to see what alternative term she would come up with to describe her behavior.

She held that ironic gaze for a moment, her indignation plain on her face; then she subsided with a pout. "I wasn't overwrought," she muttered.

"Alright," he agreed. "You weren't overwrought. But you were tired."

She shrugged unhappily. "I wanted to talk to you."

He sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his. "I know. But you weren't well enough for that last night. Your voice still sounds pretty hoarse. What did Dr. Schroeder say?"

"He said not to talk too much," she said reluctantly.

"Then don't," he said.

She stuck her tongue out at him, and John laughed.

She turned to him with a grin. "Hey, I hope I didn't interfere with your weekend with your dad too much by getting sick. But I appreciate you coming to see me."

"John was the one who found you," Straker said quietly.

She looked at her fiancee in surprise, then back at John. "Really? How? I didn't go back to the lab?"

"No," the commander answered, trying to find a careful way to answer. "We found you at home."

She frowned. "Home? I remember now. You told me I was home. I thought I dreamed it."

"What happened, Chandra?" John asked.

"I'm not sure," she answered. "I got sick. I must have come home, although I don't remember doing it. Thank you for taking care of me."

John shrugged. "Sure. But it was Dad who saved you. He gave you CPR."

Chandra looked at the commander for a long moment, realizing what that must have done to him. She squeezed his hand. "I'm so sorry, Ed."

He shook his head, denying any need for her to be concerned. Then he raised her hand to his lips. "Thanks for coming back."

She started to say something, then seemed to realize that it was not a good time to discuss it with John there. So she settled with simply saying, "Always."

* * *

John and Chandra put a puzzle together while the commander filled out the necessary paperwork to get her release. He ordered the limousine for the drive home, making arrangements to have his car picked up and delivered to his house. He chose the limo for two reasons. He wanted to give Chandra the smoothest ride home possible. And he needed the freedom to be able to hold her – just hold her. He'd nearly lost her, and he was not yet convinced she wouldn't be snatched away from him by some circumstance he couldn't control.

She seemed to need his closeness just as much. At least, she came into his arms without a word when the limo pulled away from the hospital, and stayed there all the way home. She didn't speak, but stared out the window at the passing scenery as if she couldn't get enough of the view.

Straker began to have a sneaking suspicion about what she'd witnessed during her trip to the future. If he was correct in his assumptions, things didn't look good for Earth. He glanced at his son, who was carrying Chandra's roses for her. John noticed his regard and smiled at him. The commander returned the smile, along with a silent promise to make certain that his son had a safe world where he could grow up.

When they got to the house, he settled her onto the couch while he and John made lunch. It was a warm day for soup, but John didn't complain. He seemed to be aware that it would be the easiest thing for her to eat right now. His father marveled again at how much his son had grown while he wasn't looking.

John brought her a glass of water to go with her soup, and Straker ruffled his hair in gratitude for his thoughtfulness.

John grinned back.

They ate informally, sitting on the couches in the living area. John had placed Chandra's roses on the mantle where they could be easily admired. She glanced at them often while she ate.

"I'm glad you like them," John said after noticing her gaze.

She turned to him. "They are so cheerful. Hopeful, even." Her violet eyes held deep shadows, and she glanced at his father when she finished speaking.

Straker returned her gaze with one equally somber, and John realized that they were silently communicating things way beyond his scope. In an effort to lighten the mood, he said, "Chandra, would you like to see my Falcon?"

She tore her gaze away from her fiancee and said, "I'd love to see it. You have a bird?"

He shook his head, chuckling as he got to his feet. "You'll see. I'll go get it." And he ran to his room.

"Ed . . ." she began as soon as he was out of earshot.

But the commander silenced her by taking her hand. "Later, Chandra. We'll discuss it tonight, after he goes back to his mother's."

She searched his eyes, then sighed. "You know, don't you? You already know what I saw."

"I have a good idea," he said.

John raced back into the room, carrying an oddly-shaped spacecraft in his hand. He gave it to Chandra, saying, "See? It's the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars. Dad got it for me. It has a lot of pieces, so it took a while to finish. And I still have the touch-up painting to do to make it look perfect. What do you think?"

She examined it closely. "This is beautiful work, John. Very detailed. I'm surprised someone your age could put it together. You must have worked very hard on it."

He looked at her as if struck. "Wait," he said slowly, staring at her intently. "Didn't we meet before? A long time ago – back when I was eight? You were in my room when I got home, and Mom didn't know who you were when I asked her. Was that you?"

She looked at him in shock, amazed that he had remembered that fleeting visit. "I . . ."

Straker sat back on the couch, watching her expressive face betray her. "Really, John?" he asked blandly. "Why would Chandra have been in your room?"

"I don't know," his son said, sighing as he sat back down. Chandra handed him his model, and he turned it in his hands while he considered. Finally he shrugged. "I guess it doesn't make much sense, does it? I mean, you didn't even know me then."

"Well, Chandra?" the commander said, his voice so bland it was almost cutting. "Was it you?"

She met his hard blue eyes, her heart sinking to her toes at his expression. She opened her mouth to say something – _anything_ –

And the phone rang.

* * *

John didn't complain about having to go home a few hours early. Just one look at his father's face after that phone call had told him that his weekend was over.

When he got out of the car at home, he turned to them and said, "Bye, Dad! Bye, Chandra! See you on the seventeenth!"

"Good-bye, son."

"Good-bye, John!"

They were some miles away on their way to the studio when she broke the silence. "What is it, Ed? What has happened?"

He looked at her vaguely at first, as though his thoughts were far away. Then his focus sharpened, and he seemed to notice her. "There's been a development in Antarctica. Col. Lake reports that two UFOs tried to get there this morning, but were shot down by the interceptors. She checked into it and found out that there'd been a meteor shower over the area last week."

Chandra frowned. "Did the Thoelians drop something onto the surface?"

"I think so. She has the latest satellite pictures of the continent. They definitely indicate that something is down there. That's why she called."

She considered. "Do you need me to jump there and discover what it is?"

"No." She wasn't jumping anywhere for a while if he had any say in it. "We'll send a team down there to investigate. We've got a tracking station nearby at Cape Horn. It won't take them long to reach it."

She sat back in the seat and smiled ruefully. "You're an amazingly efficient man, Ed Straker."

He grinned at her. "Really?"

She rested her fingers on his arm for a moment as he drove, her violet eyes twinkling at him. "Definitely."

* * *

Within a few hours, they had the results from their team in Antarctica.

"It's a mechanism of some sort, sir," Lt. Stanton reported over the video monitor in Straker's HQ office. "Quite large, approximately twenty meters in diameter. It seems to be set up as a sort of air filtration device. It doesn't appear to be switched on at the moment; and I can't tell what chemical they planned to pump into our atmosphere, because the main apparatus is buried in the snow and ice. But I doubt if it's oxygen. Conditions here won't allow us to dismantle it at present, and it's simply too large for us to try and carry back to the station. But we can have a hauling crew out here by first light tomorrow to dig it up."

Straker said, "Very well, Lieutenant. Have a detail remain with the device until the crew arrives tomorrow. I want to know immediately if there are any changes to it between now and when we get it to the station."

Lt. Stanton sighed. His men were not going to be happy about spending overnight on the ice. But he wasn't foolish enough to argue with the Commander.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

There was silence in the office after the video call ended.

Then Chandra said quietly, "Ed, I think I might know what chemical they have in that device."

He met her eyes for a moment, then said, "Yes. It's most likely chlorine gas. Hiding the device at the South Pole was ingenious of them. We would never have found it until a large portion of the atmosphere had been contaminated. It's possible that we might not have found it at all until it was too late."

He turned to the colonel. "Col. Lake, we can't thank you enough for your quick handling of this matter. If you hadn't deduced that something was going on and checked it out, we'd still be unaware of what they were up to. A commendation will go in your record for today's work."

"Thank you, Commander," she said warmly. She might think less of him as a man because of his poor choice of lovers. (An actress, for God's sake! Didn't he know any better?) But as a commanding officer, he ranked among the very best.

"Sir?" she asked. "Why do you think it wasn't functioning when we found it?"

He shrugged. "There could be any number of reasons, Colonel. Antarctica has a reputation for being hard on equipment. Or perhaps there was some malfunction when it crash-landed that kept it from operating. I'm sure we'll find out which it is once we've disassembled it. Right now, I'm just grateful that it wasn't working."

"Yes, sir." She paused a moment, then asked, "How long would it have taken them to destroy our atmosphere to the point where everything died?"

He turned to Chandra. "How far ahead did you jump?"

Her eyes were troubled when she answered. "Ten months from now. It seemed like a safe enough time. I certainly didn't expect anything like this to have occurred."

Straker nodded. "Well, Colonel. We'll need the research team to tell us the actual timetable for the device, but I can accurately state that Earth would have been dead within ten months' time once that device was activated."

Virginia looked from her commander to Reva. She had no idea what they'd been referring to in their short conversation, but she realized that somehow Reva had managed to assist the commander with this crisis. Even though Ginny had no idea how. Jumping? What was that?

_Ten months._ The colonel drew a deep breath, aware all of a sudden just how close a call they'd had this time. Less than a year. Earth would have been in the aliens' hands in less than a year. God!

"Would you like me to supervise the transferral of the device to the Cape Horn Tracking station in the morning, sir?" Virginia asked.

"Thank you, Colonel," he replied. "I'm certain I can leave it in your capable hands. But as of now, you're off-duty. Go home and get a good night's rest. You've earned it."

She knew that Paul wasn't due in for a few more hours to take over for the night shift at HQ. But she wasn't going to complain about getting to go home early. Any gift from the Commander was worth receiving. "Thank you, sir."

Once she was gone, the commander looked at his fiancee. "Ready to give your report now?"

She grinned ruefully. "It would sound pretty anti-climactic, I'm afraid. But I'll have the written report on your desk in the morning."

"Chandra," he said quietly. "Why didn't you return to the lab? How did you end up at home?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, Ed. I remember that I couldn't breathe. The air was a ghastly color. And everything was . . . dead. Withered. I thought for a moment that I'd somehow ended up on another planet, even though that's not possible. It was so disorienting. When I realized that I was suffocating, all I could think of was that I didn't want to die without seeing you one more time."

She shrugged. "So I guess subconsciously, I made the decision to go home instead of the lab. It certainly wasn't a deliberate resolve on my part. I'm only sorry that I gave you trouble. And don't say I didn't, because I'm not foolish enough to believe you!"

He gave a rueful smile. "Then I won't deny that I gained a few grey hairs on seeing you on the carpet in that state. But I'm glad you came home, Chandra. I'm so glad that I got to be there for you."

She smiled back at him, but after a while she sighed. "So, Ed. How long are you going to make me wait before you trust me to jump again?"

**Epilogue**

It had been a long weekend. And not quite the one he had planned. But most of the things he had worried about had turned out just fine. Most of them. He looked at his fiancee as he came out of the bathroom. She lay on her side in his bed with the covers pulled back invitingly for him. And she was smiling.

He disrobed and slid into the bed. He turned toward her and smiled back. "Tired?"

Her smile widened. "No. You?"

He wanted to answer that smile. He really did. But . . . "I shouldn't have kept you out so late tonight. You haven't been out of the hospital a full day yet."

Chandra shook her head. "I'm fine, Ed. Good as new."

"Your voice is still hoarse," he said.

"Dr. Schroeder said it might be a few days before it was back to normal."

"And you're not supposed to be talking a lot," he added.

She twinkled at him. "So stop talking to me."

In spite of himself, he grinned back at her. She was just so special. He brought her closer for a kiss . . .

And didn't return to what he'd wanted to talk to her about for some time.

* * *

She was laying close, her fingers toying with the hair on his chest, while his hands ran through her hair and kneaded her scalp until she wanted to purr. He hadn't said anything – yet – but she knew he was thinking about it.

So she said it first. "I'm sorry if you didn't want me to change anything in your past, Ed. But some things were meant to be changed."

He sighed. "I'm just trying to figure out what you_ did _change." He shifted so that he could look into her eyes. "Something that had to do with John, obviously."

"Yes." Her eyes besought his understanding. "You would never have told me. I know that. You'd have known that I would interfere on your behalf, and you wouldn't have wanted that. Not because you didn't want the results. But because you did."

"Okay," he said, still rather at sea. "Who did tell you? And what did they tell you?"

"You can't be mad at him, because he doesn't remember doing it. Well, he didn't do it --technically -- in this timeframe. So it's not his fault, okay?"

"Okay," he said again. "Who?"

She sighed. "Alec. We were talking about families, and how you and I both couldn't wait to start one. And he mentioned John." She paused, then added, "I guess he thought I already knew. That you had told me."

"Told you what?"

Her violet eyes were somber when they met his. "That he was dead."

He stiffened. Whatever he'd expected to hear, it hadn't been that. His mind didn't even want to consider such a possibility, so it took him a few minutes before he could ask, "How? When?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. It didn't happen. Because I stopped it. Just a small thing, loosening one of the strings on his model boat. So that he'd want to fix it before he showed it to you. So that it kept him from running after you. And kept him from the accident that took his life. I won't apologize for it, Ed. So don't ask me to."

He touched her cheek. "My God," he murmured, his eyes misting up as he considered what she had done for him. "You truly are a guardian angel, aren't you?"

"I love you," she said fiercely, as though those few words answered every question.

Straker said, "I love you, too." And realized as he kissed her that she was right. Those three words answered all questions.


End file.
